This Siri Competitor for Android Looks Utterly Awesome [Video]

Ever since Apple released Siri for iOS, Android developers have been coming out with their “Siri-killers”. We’ve seen Speaktoit Assistant, Cluzee, Iris, and even Google’s upcoming Project Majel, which promises to improve the current Voice Actions for Android. The latest is called utter! by XDA member brandall, and promises something a little different.

Through a video the developer posted on YouTube, we find out that utter! knows about and can use the apps already installed on your device. For example, when asked “search eBay Galaxy Nexus,” the app responds by displaying the results through the installed eBay app rather than opening a browser. Of course, if the eBay app was not installed, utter! would indeed use eBay’s web site to return the results.

Other interactions highlighted in the video include asking for the weather and getting the forecast using the default weather app, setting a meeting in the calendar, setting alarms, and composing SMS text messages and emails. One interesting example uses Google Earth to “fly to the Eiffel Tower”.

A conversation mode is also showcased, where the speaker can ask questions and respond to answers from utter! in real time. Through this mode we are shown how a conversation lead to an argument about the speaker’s age, resulting in utter! finally telling the speaker that it knows his birthday because it has read his Google and Facebook profiles. Argument over. Of course, this back-and-forth banter is most likely scripted to a degree, but it does highlight how it can start resembling primitive artificial intelligence.

According to the developer, utter! is currently in early beta and won’t be released for a while yet. This is certainly one we’ll want to keep an eye on. Watch the entire 22-minute video below to see utter! in action.

Originally from the East Coast, Ed now makes his home in San Jose, California. His passion for technology started with his first ColecoVision and Atari gaming systems, and has grown stronger through Tandy computers, IBM clones, Palm Pilots, and PocketPCs. Ed's love for Android began with his first HTC Hero, then blossomed with the original Evo 4G, and now the Evo 3D and Motorola Xoom. He graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in Communications, and is now a professional User Experience Designer working in Silicon Valley. In his spare time, Ed enjoys video games, jamming on guitar, and spending time with his wife, two cats, and Logitech Revue.

Charles Cbear52

I have seen the video last month and was awesomely impressed to put all others to shame because it answers to your every command with no hesitation, perfectly. Somebody please keep me informed how and when I can get it for my phone./?